Law firm Baker McKenzie is narrowing its focus for its new London HQ on Paternoster Square, EC4.
The firm, advised by Savills, is understood to be favouring Mitsubishi Estates’ 317,000 sq ft Warwick Court office for its 150,000 sq ft requirement.
CBRE Global Investors and Arax Properties’ planned refurbishment of the former Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters at 280 Bishopsgate, EC2, was also understood to have been on the law firm’s shortlist.
The requirement, which was launched last summer, will see Baker McKenzie vacate the circa 160,000 sq ft it occupies at 100 New Bridge Street, EC4, near City Thameslink train station. It has been in the building, which is owned by the Qatari royal family’s private property company, Alduwaliya Asset Management, since 1991.
The move will be the latest in a spate of new lettings by the capital’s legal eagles over the past year, with more in the pipeline.
There are currently around 2.5m sq ft of “stay or go” strategy talks being held at some of London’s largest law firms over their occupational footprint. The prospective mass movement is being driven by a dearth of new high-quality office space coming into the market over the next few years, at a time when many law firms have lease renewals in buildings they have occupied for more than a decade.
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